More loose socks and other goodies
As always, I make no claims for my ability as a photographer. Some of these were taken using a borrowed Olympus digital camera (which is a great thing--and led me to get a Nikon for myself, which accounts for the other pictures). Most of them were taken as somewhat candid photos, which explains the blur, angle, etc. This is not the camera's fault - it's mine.
Boots
Ridiculously thick-soled black boots are the order for this winter (and have been for a number of winters now, thanks to the efforts of a famous Japanese idoru (teen idol), Namie Amuro. Here are three shots of the fashion (these are tricky shots to get without making myself look too conspicuous, but the swivel LCD finder on the CP900 is useful here).
Some lonely socks at the station:
A pair of loose socks waiting for the Chuo line train at Mitaka station.
The same loose socks from a slightly different view. Also note the urban hiker with umbrella in the foreground.
Some more loose socks, in a sociable group this time, spotted at Kudanshita station (these folks were rather skittish, so it was difficult to take a satisfactory picture). Faces have been masked to protect the guilty (they should have been in school, but I'm not going to give them away).
These boys follow the trend of wearing trousers so long that they could join the circus as clowns. The floor-sitting at right even occurs in trains. Sorry for the quality of this one - although the station appears deserted, there were a lot of people going past, and I had to snap quickly. 
What the well-dressed man is wearing...
And now for something completely different... what the well-dressed young man about town was wearing in summer (well, it's a composite of these two, really). Woolly hat, baggy camo shorts and assorted other grunge gear, including shitkicker boots. The glasses at right are very strange--wide and low (top-to-bottom). Some TV personality must be wearing them, but I have yet to discover who it is.
Just to let you know how early the kids here get into the uniform kick (these wouldn't stay still long enough for me to get focused, but they were remarkably quiet, considering how much they were enjoying themselves). 
In a class of their own...
Well, she thought she was, anyway. Dressed to the nines, hair a fashionable foreign colour, displaying a lot of chest, and some leg, together with platform shoes... 
And who am I to make disparaging remarks about anyone, when I dress like this? For tea ceremony, anyway. Hugh Ashton hugh@j-views.com
